Of Rings of Power (and the balrog) - #WhiteCouncil

Mae govannen! Here is my entry for the first White Council discussion. The first half got a bit out of hand (what a surprise!) but I tried to keep it organized with an index.

-~ #WhiteCouncil ~-

Spoilers ahead!!

1. Did you enjoy rings of power? Why or why not? Feel free to speak on the series in relation to canon material and as a standalone.

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Fall of Númenor by Alan Lee

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I did not enjoy Rings of Power, and the main reason why is because I think it fails to adapt the lore correctly and to keep the themes and important parts of the story relevant.

As I haven’t seen the show recently, there are some things, especially details like dialogue or specific scenes, that I probably don’t completely right. However, with the wider themes and topics I’m a bit more confident. But as always, I can be mistaken. And of course, I’m forgetting many things. And lastly, although I have written this more or less at the same time, I haven’t had time to make it a cohesive whole, so it’s more like a collection of thoughts. Some of them have less depth than others, or might be weaker arguments, but I’ll be happy to address them in the comments.

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Index

Prologue and presentation of the world

The realms of Middle-earth

Lindon

Eregion and Khazad-dûm

Men of Middle-earth

Númenor

Scale of the world

Size and numbers

Distance, time and travelling

Elven fading and mithril

Dialogue

Languages

Characters

Elendil

Gil-Galad

Galadriel

Celebrimbor, and his relationship with Halbrand

Other characters

The harfoots

Telling a story

The rights for the adaptation

The interaction with public and criticism

-~•~-

Prologue and presentation of the world

The first scenes until the death of the Trees have some weird things.

Having no word for death is strange… on their journey from Middle-earth to Valinor the elves would have known it, or at least something similar.

Finrod saying that he wouldn't always be there is also a weird choice. He did show some foreshadowing later in the Silmarillion, although that's not completely established as a part of his character.

But the most important part of the prologue (even considering that it's from the point of view of Galadriel) is the omission of the Silmarils! They establish the wars of the First Age as the elves going together to a land unknown to take revenge because of the fading of the Trees, when that's only a rough depiction of it and which misses several important elements of the story.

The return to Middle-earth was the first fall of the Elves, in this case of the Noldor, and the oath of Fëanor, leading to the First Kinslaying, and mainly to the Doom of Mandos, was a central element during all of the First Age.

Even considering only the material in the Appendices, there is a mention of rebellion against the Valar and of hopeless war, which are lacking in the prologue.

Next, when the map of Middle-earth appears, Beleriand is missing! And also any mention of the Elves that were there before the return of the Noldor. I think a transition with the map of Beleriand showing how it was drowned and how it ended would be much better, and also not saying that "the war left Middle-earth in ruin", which as a whole it didn't. And as for the rights to the map, they might have asked for permission, as they did for Númenor.

Then Finrod is shown swearing an oath that looks like the oath of Fëanor, which I hope it’s not, and then the war.

The battle shown then is like a mix of all the battles of the First Age, and that's decent, although I really don't like how they depict Finrod fighting with a scared look, struggling to fight an orc, while I would imagine skilled and mighty elf-lords fighting bravely, and not seemingly matched or overwhelmed by a single orc but by many of them, and other creatures.

And I also dislike the pile of helms, I guess it was a representation of the Haudh-en-Nirnaeth but I think it takes away a lot of the meaning of it, which was made in mockery by the orcs.

And then there's the presentation of Sauron and Finrod. First, orcs didn't spread to 'every corner of Middle-earth', as they were mostly in Beleriand, and they also were under the command of Morgoth, not only of Sauron; in ‘Of Dwarves and Men’ it is mentioned that the peoples of Rhovanion enjoyed a relative peace while the orcs were mostly in Beleriand for the war against the Elves. But most importantly, the supposed 'oath' that Finrod took was never there, and none of the things that are said about him are correct. He wasn't hunting Sauron, but helping Beren and fulfilling his oath to Barahir, and Sauron didn't search for him, but caught him and his companions trying to sneak through the of Sirion. And lastly, there was no sigil, and in case there was Galadriel wouldn't have seen it because he was buried by Beren and Lúthien. All of these elements that are different from the books without need and are central to the plot of the series contribute to make the show feel in a different world, and not an extension of it.

And also, the omission of Eärendil is a weird choice, both considering that the prologue is supposed to explain the First Age and that Galadriel, from her point of view, would skip that part. And also probably any mention of Men.

-~•~-

The realms of Middle-earth

Lindon

The relationships and situation of the elves are vague and not too well explained. In a similar way to the First Age, there was a High King of al the Elves, who was Gil-Galad, but he didn't have as much power as is shown here. The elves of Eregion, for example, would be more independent, and not act that much under his direct rule. The silvan elves would go separately, but they aren't mentioned yet. And then there's the outpost in Mordor. I think it doesn't make much sense to have an outpost of four elves (they're supposed to be more, but I have my doubts) a thousand miles away from the realm, to keep watch on a few villages. Maybe if there were more outposts in Calenardhon and Eriador, or maybe even what later would be Gondor, it would make sense, but having only one there is, at the least, weird. And if there were more, maybe Galadriel should have considered going to one before riding all the way to Ost-in-Edhil, and the elves should have considered sending for help at some point.

And also, keeping watch over that particular group of men just because their ancestors did wrong a thousand years ago doesn't seem very fitting, especially considering that if they're keeping watch on Mordor they should know also of the lands around it, and there were many evil Men influenced by Sauron in them while he was still in Eregion as Annatar. If they knew about that they would know that he was around, and none of the plot would make sense.

Eregion and Khazad-dûm

The relationship between these two realms is interesting, and probably one of the least strange things of the show. It's interesting that Elrond is the one who is a friend of the dwarves, and not the rest of the Noldor, who shared their interest in crafting and smithing, and precisely because of that became their friends in the books. However, I guess it might be a callback to Pengolodh, who was also sent by Gil-Galad and learned Khuzdûl, although he played a different role in the general story.

However, the gate of Moria makes me curious, because it doesn't fit the description of the West Gate, and it wouldn't make sense for it to be that one, as elves and dwarves aren't friends yet, but if it is supposed to be the East Gate then that brings me to the next thing I think the show did a poor job with, of which I will talk later.

They also don’t mention the Dwarves of the Iron Hills, but they haven’t played a role yet so it’s not too important.

Men of Middle-earth

There were many men in Eriador, and in all of Middle-earth, who are completely missing. However, even the few that are shown (in the ‘Southlands’) are a confusing society. A few villages, mostly isolated and not travelling far, have people of many different aspects and origins. This also happens with the harfoots, but they have their own part later, and in other places like Númenor.

Númenor

Many things in Númenor are not clearly established because of the timeline compression, but it seems to be a mostly isolated island with little or no presence in Middle-earth at the moment. However, they still seem to have a Sea-guard, which doesn’t seem to need guarding anything unless it were a proper military protecting colonies in Middle-earth, and whose ships go to strange places (more on that later). The geography is also quite weird, as there is no place that matches any description from the books except for the coastlands of what appears to be the west (in case it was that) and more or less the mountain.

Then there's also the relationship between Númenor and the Elves, and the rest of Middle-earth. They're supposed to have been friends with the Elves, and outposts in Middle-earth, and still they for some reason don't have anyone available there for their scouting party (army, if you're quite optimistic). They would have probably liked having someone with horses there, and not having to take them from Númenor (which it's stated they didn't, as moving horses in ships is quite difficult).

Then there's also the issue with the timeline. The beginning of the fall of Númenor and the pride of the Dúnedain was the show of their power in the time of Tar-Minastir when they defeated the armies of Sauron in his war against Eregion. At this time, which in the show is both the past and the future (depending for which characters), Númenor had colonies along the coasts of Gondor, presence and communication with Lindon and some with Eregion, and further south.

And lastly, the political system of Númenor is quite different from the books too. The island was ruled by the King, counseled (although not obliged) by the Council of the Sceptre, composed by the nobles of the land, and most important of them was the Lord of Andúnië. However, in the show there’s only the Queen (though Palantir should have ruled until his death) and the Chancellor, representing the Guilds.

This is a pretty different system (even ignoring how they changed the roles of each character from the books), although in the end I suppose that the Queen has the final word on every decision.

However, even more strange than that is the war council, and it’s not because it’s different from the books. The queen, the chancellor, and then the two people who just arrived at the island and were imprisoned. Although these last two were the ones that asked for the military campaign, I think such a quest would need quite a bit of preparation, and for that of quite a few more people for its discussion and planning. Maybe a general, or iral, or some of the ship captains at least.

-~•~-

Scale of the world

Size and numbers

The show tries to convey the feeling of a big world and important events, and still I think it fails for several reasons. One of them is the lack of scenery shots (or at least compared to how many should be there), but that will be adressed later.

But then there’s the issue of population and people. Only Númenor and Khazad-dûm seem to have a decent amount of people, and to be big cities (although the scale of realms still is lacking to me). However, the Southlands is a bunch of villages whose whole population can fit inside the small watchtower, Lindon doesn’t have any more population than the characters that have some importance to the plot, Eregion has almost empty streets (and is only one city, not a realm that we can see), and the harfoots are a small tribe. To rescue the Southlands, Númenor sends three not too big ships, and they’re the same number or more than the orcs, which are referred to as ‘legions’. All of this contributes, to me, to feel that the events that happen aren’t that important to all of Middle-earth, but only to a few people.

The showrunners themselves said that Galadriel and Halbrand saved a continent, when the feeling I get is that they saved only a few people.

Distance, time and travelling

Elrond and Celebrimbor depart from Ost-in-Edhil to go to Khazad-dûm, and they go with the same clothes, no packs, walking sticks, horses, companions, clothes or anything of the sort. The way to the West Gate would be at least one day, or more, and they would need food of some sort. However, as only the East Gate should exist, the journey would be at least three or four days, through the of Caradhras. That would require at least some food, and maybe some clothes for the cold.

Something similar happens every time they travel from Eregion to Lindon. Celebrimbor and Elrond would probably travel with some kind of escort, or at least in horses if they were in haste, and a task like carrying the table to Khazad-dûm would definitely not be done by hand, but in a cart or something similar.

The fact that none of these details are shown does not, of course, mean that they didn't do them, but it really takes away from the feeling of a big world and of the consequences and importance of journeys that Tolkien was so careful about.

And this is only worsened by the fact that they don't even show a single scene of landscapes or people traveling in almost any scene, and they cut them from episode to episode.

Another thing I find lacking is the representation of lands and cities in their full scale, often going from a general view to a single street or room.

To me (if only by my personal knowledge) the worst example of this is Númenor. They show a magnificent city with many levels, standing on cliffs, and then most of the scenes are of narrow streets in the lower levels and the docks, or the interior of the palace. It also doesn't help that they make the city totally different from any of the descriptions of the books, which to me makes it really difficult to identify with Númenor. While reading the books and checking the maps I would imagine them arriving at Rómenna and then traveling by horse to Armenelos, making everything be the same city just doesn't allow me to piece together in my head the things they're showing with the world they are supposed to be set in.

And as a side note, mentioning in dialogue that there is a day's journey to somewhere or three days to somewhere else (while also being generally unrealistic estimates) isn't enough to get the feeling of distance and time that a journey should take.

Another example of this is the distances in Belegaer, and the journey to the southlands. Assuming that Galadriel jumps from the ship near Valinor, she would not have gone far only by swimming, considering that the journey to the nearest land, Númenor, would take at least several weeks (swimming). So if she was still west of Valinor, how did the shipwrecked people get so far, and what was Elendil doing there, when few Númenórean ships sailed west?

Then, when the Númenóreans go to Middle-earth, they sail up the Anduin, cross the Mountains (possibly up the later called Morgul Vale), go down again and towards the plain, and only in two days! And with time to set a camp in between. Two days would be the time that Aragorn would take to sail the river alone, and a shorter length of it, with all the speed he could use before the battle. And most important of all, the Númenóreans wouldn’t know there was a battle, not until they were almost at the village, so although they wanted to go as soon as possible they would not need such haste. Following with the example of Aragorn, he sped his march towards Minas Tirith (and he went with hardened rangers, not inexperienced cadets) because he knew a few hours could make the difference, but it was an effort within the reach of very few.

And also, the Númenóreans would need to scout the land, find the proper es (unless the maps were very recent, which they wouldn’t seem), find the villages, and then attack.

All of this, of course, without taking into the impossibility to carry that many people and horses, along with provisions, in those small ships.

Elven fading and mithril

One of the weirdest aspects of the show is the way they treat elven fading and mithril.

First, the legend of mithril and the light of Valinor. There are a few points which don’t fit for me; why is there such a legend?

The fate of the Silmarils was known to the elves, so it wouldn’t make sense as a literal interpretation. However, if it was a metaphorical tale, why would then mithril have the light? It wouldn't make much sense, unless they knew what the ore was beforehand. But the thing that fits the least to me is the fact that there was mithril already in other places, like Valinor and Númenor. Why would they then not know of it better, or in a different way?

It is also said that the founding of Eregion was influenced by the word of dwarves having mithril, while here it existed before that.

In summary, the idea of the showrunners (said by themselves) of linking the Silmarils to mithril is in my opinion unnecessary and inadequate.

Another thing that they change with this is the motivation of the Elves, and as I get from what the showrunners said they either didn’t understand or they didn’t want to understand why they would make rings, or they felt that they needed to have a different motivation.

The elves were deceived by Annatar because they wanted to make Middle-earth close to Valinor, and with them they would achieve the beauty and bliss and stop the decay of their realms, and that’s motivation enough, and they didn’t know that Sauron helped them until the very last moment.

And then there is the fading of the Elves. Fading was not like it’s presented in this show, as a sudden disappearance or death of all the elves for no apparent reason. It would be a consequence of the Doom of Mandos, and it would be a weariness of the world during the long ages, only slowed down by traveling to Valinor. The elves would probably know about it, and so it’s weird how it’s presented in the show. Some say it’s because the elves have been tricked into thinking that, but that explanation isn’t satisfying to me, and it isn’t really established how they knew how much time they had left or how much time ed in the season in general. I think the fading would be a slow process, and it would be noticed by the elves themselves. And of course, Gil-Galad could try to be at least kind enough to send someone to the southlands to warn the garrison there, maybe.

-~•~-

Dialogue

The dialogue has a good intention, but in my opinion it goes too far. The elves having an elaborated language ends up feeling scripted and weird, and then the metaphors are quite weird sometimes (the ship that looks up, the rain over the carcass…). There are then some jewels like the tempest of Galadriel, the raw meat and some others. And at its best the dialogue is decent, and very rarely quite good.

Languages

The languages the characters speak are also a bit messy. Even if all characters speak English, the hobbits would have their own language, as would probably the men of the Southlands, and also Númenor and the Dwarves.

However, whenever the elves speak to someone I would assume they use Sindarin; although the ones in the Southlands would probably know the native tongue, Galadriel probably wouldn’t, as would the Númenóreans (or at least they would have more difficulties, as when Veäntur arrived first to Eriador). However, most of the phrases in elvish that the characters say are in Quenya, which would only be used as a language of lore among a few. The use of Sindarin in Númenor would also deserve at least a mention, as it was forbidden at this time.

Another example of this would be the word uruk, which would refer to any orc and would be the one that they’re using already, which makes it weird to not just say orc.

And as for a possible Common Tongue, I’d say there still wouldn’t be such at this time, not until the Númenórean presence in Middle-earth was stronger at the least, or even until the Realms of Exile and the Third Age.

-~•~-

Characters

Elendil

In the show, Elendil takes the place of his father in the books, at least to some degree. However, he’s deprived of all of his importance, and although he is a ship Captain his role is changed for the story of his family. Given that his father is absent, he should be the Lord of Andúnië, the most influential of all the counselors of the King. However, he’s relegated to a probably important but not that much captain.

Gil-Galad

This is one if the characters which, in my opinion, is worst portrayed from the books. Arrogant, unwilling to listen, sometimes unwise, and quite authoritative in his rule, plotting and scheming.

However, all of this is the opposite of what Gil-Galad should be; in the letter given to Aldarion for the King of Númenor, a bit before 900 S.A., he asked for help because there was evil stirring in Middle-earth, although he knew not who it was. This shows two things about him; first, that he was wise to see the danger of rising evil; and second, that he was willing to ask for help when his lands and his people were in danger. However, in the series he sends an unknowing messenger to the dwarves, trying to get the mithril, instead of asking for it explaining the need of his people, be it with a letter or traveling himself.

Galadriel

Galadriel is one of the most mistreated characters. Although according to the Unfinished Tales she would be a capable fighter, if she willed, there is no mention of her participating in any battle, and she even ed over Ered Lindon before the Second Age began, at least in some versions (and always with Celeborn).

Then there is also the weird title of Commander of the Northern Armies. First, why would she accept being commander when she could just go and make a realm of her own. And second, which ones were exactly the armies (or the elves, in general)? I can only guess they haven't shown them yet but they're somewhere.

But more important than this are two traits that I think are completely misrepresented in the show. First, her pride and strong will, which are focused on the oath of her brother and her grief for the ones she has lost (although she doesn't seem to care too much for Angrod and Aegnor). In the books she is also described as insightful and wise, and the base of the plot of the series contradicts these, as she should not have been fooled by Sauron so easily (he didn't even try that hard).

She has the traits of Feanor, and that's precisely what she should not be. One thing is being proud and strong and a different one is jumping off a ship and trying to swim an ocean.

The main argument I have seen against this is that she will become wiser in the future, and still I think that is flawed. Something I haven't seen mentioned anywhere is the time she spent in Doriath with Melian, where she learned many things and reflected on the deeds of the Noldor.

I think that the wisdom and "magic" that she shows in the Lord of the Rings would be things that she would learn in that time, and not afterwards. In any case, she, with Gil-Galad and Elrond, shouldn't be tricked by Sauron, and even less in the form of Halbrand shown in the show.

Then there's the issue of Celeborn. I guess he will appear somewhere at some point, but if he isn’t dead he should have had enough time to find Galadriel. In any case, it’s a big difference with the lore, and I can’t help but feel that they wanted their warrior Galadriel and needed to get rid of him to tell their own story.

Celebrimbor, and his relationship with Halbrand

The relationship between Halbrand and Celebrimbor, as shown in the show, is, if not pretty poorly done, at least rushed (they become friends between scenes and almost immediately). In the books, Sauron, pretending to be an emissary of the Valar, tricked the elves into forging the rings, and taught them many things of smithing and crafting.

However, this doesn't work in the show, because Halbrand is a man who, even if he had worked all his life as a smith, shouldn't be even close to the knowledge of Celebrimbor.

The way they portray it, as with a few other things, is by making the learner inept so that the teacher can seem skilled even being pretty bad. Having the mightiest of the Noldor smiths after Fëanor only needing to be suggested the use of alloys is such a poor depiction of his mastery, and the fact that a man from the Southlands can have more knowledge than him without raising any alarms (or not many, or outright rejection) is at least weird. It might have worked at least somewhat if as in the books Elrond, Gil-Galad and Galadriel weren't there, but it doesn't the way it's shown.

Another instance of this is Galadriel “training” the Númenóreans. Making the soldiers of Númenor inexperienced and pretty blunt young men makes a not too skilful Galadriel seem like a great warrior, but at the cost of the might of Númenor and its military (and also, interesting that they trained on foot to fight on horse).

Other characters

There are other characters with changes that I consider less important or that I’m more lazy to write. Míriel shouldn’t be Queen, Palantir should still be ruling, there shouldn’t be two Durins, and Círdan should be present from the beginning.

And about the original characters, I feel they should be at the service of adapting the story, and not having their own be more important than it. But as a note, it would be nice to tell their names before they disappear or die, even if they appear on the Amazon display while watching. Not of the main ones, but of someone like the friend and the captain of Arondir, whose deaths are supposed to be impactful.

The harfoots

I have left the harfoots for last because I feel they shouldn’t be there. Their story doesn’t add much until the very end, and even knowing that the stranger is a wizard it doesn’t change anything for the rest, and it even wrecks the story of the wizards, although that depends a bit on what happens next season. But for now, there isn’t any wizard that could fit this story (or that could learn perfect English in an episode).

Also, the harfoots shouldn’t have that name, since that’s a later word. They are supposed to be kind and caring people, and yet they’re the opposite while pretending not to.

In summary, I think hobbits should stay like they were in the books, unknown until the third age, and if the showrunners feel like Middle-earth needs hobbits then I’d say they’re too afraid to make something truly different from the Lord of the Rings movies, while trying to adapt something that is inherently different in several aspects, and that doesn’t work (a similar thing to the Hobbit trilogy, but in a different way).

-~•~-

Telling a story

Even considering the show as its own, there are some weird elements that I still would consider bad storytelling. Here are some different examples.

The whole story of the sigil is weird. First, if it was a map and not a symbol, why marking it in Finrod? And also, why would there be a plan of going to Mordor in case of Morgoth's fall, when he never was in any threat until the coming of the host of Valinor? Maybe it would be a plan during the War of Wrath, but then Finrod would have already died. (That’s not considering the show as its own, except the first part, but it’s a point that fits here).

And then, it would be weird that there's the random parchment explaining the meaning in the (apparently quite small) library of Númenor, and still the elves didn't know anything about it, and the Númenóreans gave it no importance.

Galadriel searches for Sauron in the north of Middle-earth, and tries to find a sigil that she found marked on his brother. But his search has been for so long that the High King decides it’s no longer useful and sends her to Valinor. However, at the last moment she decides to refuse, and jumps off the ship.

There she finds a group of stranded people from the Southlands, and one of them is Halbrand. After a monster attacks them (and leaves for no good reason) only the two survive, and after surviving a storm they’re found by Elendil and brought to Númenor.

All of these events are a succession of extremely lucky moments started by a decision which makes no sense, and being the foundation of the rest of the story it shouldn’t be weak, because it then can’t the rest. And if it’s best for the rest to not think about the beginning, that’s not a good story.

Then there’s the lack of consequences for characters, like Galadriel and Halbrand going from prison to council of war without any mention of forgiveness or anything like that.

Other things like the villagers going to the village when the tower was a much stronger position, more easily defended by few people. In the battle, the horses charging in a line over the small bridge when they could cross the river on horse and go on a better formation, a chain prepared for a very specific situation that they didn’t know would happen and never appears again, stopping instead of charging several times, allowing the orcs to climb and throw down riders (and also a really inconsistent lighting of the scene).

The tunnels and the sword-key, first, because the orcs could probably do them at night if they were in a hurry. But most importantly, because the water flowing down the channel shouldn’t go up the volcano, and all the terrain was going up, and when it flows down a cavern in the side of the mountain it should make the volcano explode on that side, and not from the top. And also, the cavern had a good exit for the steam, so the building up of pressure needed for the explosion would be less likely.

On the other storylines, the oath of Elrond, possibly broken but not much explained, making the “historical” negotiations between dwarves and elves happen between episodes, wasting an important scene with the table… all of these examples make me feel like a stronger and better story could be told.

-~•~-

The rights for the adaptation

Much of the defense of the changes the show has done is justified with “they didn’t have the rights to everything they needed”. However, I don’t agree with that. And before I continue, I want to make clear that in this topic (more importantly but not exclusively) the fault for the changes and decisions is equally of the showrunners and directives and the Tolkien Estate.

They have recognised that they could ask for permission for things that weren’t in their material. The map of Númenor, not in the appendices, the shield and axe of Tuor, statues of Uinen and Ulmo, and other things, are examples of these. However, other things like the map of Beleriand are missing.

But in my opinion, the worst mistake was making a Second Age show in the beginning, having the rights to the source with less information about it. And especially if the most that they had, the Tale of Years and other things, are being ignored. It would almost seem like they want to work their way around the source to tell a different thing…

The appendices contain mostly information about the Third Age, and there are many tales there, like the fall of Arnor, the story of Gondor, and some others, that could be very compelling if told properly.

-~•~-

The interaction with public and criticism

This is not strictly related to the content of the show, so I’ll keep it short

One of the things that annoys me the most is how people involved in the show (especially showrunners and directives) treat criticism, for example calling fans evil, but especially talking as if people is dumb (and the official podcast is one of the worst examples to me).

But one of the conclusions I get is that the show isn’t directed to fans who know much of the lore, but more towards people who know it somewhat or not that much, and the fact that they insist that it’s equally for everyone makes me think they either want to trick people or have failed on their purpose.

However, in general the showrunners display an arrogance that I think is inadequate to adapt these works, or any.

-~•~-

2. Do you believe that the Balrog was fighting on the same side as the goblins and orcs in the Fellowship of the Ring?

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Flame of Udûn by Manuel Castañón

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I have mostly run out of time for this question, but the answer is less complex, so I can explain it more briefly.

In summary, yes and no. Orcs and Balrog were all serving the same ‘side’, however, the orcs of the Misty Mountains were serving Sauron, and yet they were more independent and not that much under direct orders. The balrog was a servant of Morgoth, and thus probably not that willing to obey Sauron, but he would recognise the orcs as allies, or maybe subjects (even if they didn’t directly serve him, but just in the sense of that they had a similar purpose but a much lower status). For this reason, they hailed him as a kind of champion, and they didn’t fear him (although probably they didn’t trust him enough to not be somewhat afraid). And the Balrog didn’t attack them, but he also didn’t rule them directly.

-~•~-

And that was my entry! The part about Rings of Power was probably a bit too long, but it had been a while since I wanted to make something like it, and it was a good opportunity. However, I have still left many things untold, or little developed, so I’ll be glad to expand upon them (or recognise if I’m wrong) in the comments! And without much more to say, thank you for reading, debating, replying, and enduring such a long and poorly structured text! Farewell wherever you fare, till your eyries receive you at your journey’s end!